So here's what the day of infusion #11 looked like. This is pretty much the every chemo day looks like:
7:30 - Wake up
7:31 - Fight off wave of anticipatory nausea to get out of bed
7:32 - Crouch on ground for a few mins to get over sharp bone pain in my lower back
7:33 - Try to poop so I can prepare for a weekend of constipation (twas a success yesterday)
7:45 - Brush teeth and dry heave into sink because anticipatory nausea is a real bitch
7:50 - Take Kilby up to his litter box (he doesn't have constipation problems.. He has the opposite problem of go-wherever-whenever)
8:00 - Prepare breakfast of everything bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon. Eat breakfast. Take a Prilosec to help with digestion and acid problems after chemo.
8:25 - Get dressed (which is just changing from PJs into practically-PJs of yoga pants and t-shirt)
8:30 - Pack my chemo bag with my tablet, headphones, extra charger, snacks, nausea meds and Doctor Who blanket
8:40 - Apply numbing cream to my port in preparation for access
8:45 - Leave house and drive to cancer center
9:17 - Arrive at cancer center, check in, head on back, and say hi to all the nurses and tech and phlebotomist.
9:30 - My chemo nurse access my port to draw blood for the CBC. She has trouble because my blood isn't coming out smoothly (it has air bubbles and is frothing, what??). She pumps the syringe a few times and all is good. I take an ativan to help with nausea.
9:50 - blood counts are good and the nurse starts me on my pre-meds
9:50 - 12:15 - bags and bags of meds are infused into me. I spend the time talking to other patients and Damien, snapchatting, instagramming and IMing people.
12:15 - Done! We head to Hoodys for some philly cheesesteaks.
1:00 - I am full and content. The pre-meds are helping with the nausea but they knock me out. I fall asleep in the car immediately and wake up to us arriving home.
1:30 - Change back into PJs and crawl into bed. Sleeeeeeep. Just a warning - everything after this is hazy because I'm groggy for the rest of the day.
5:30ish - Wake up feeling like bloated swollen crap. Yell out for Damien and he comes to try to make me feel better by doing any of the following - AC higher/lower, ceiling fan on/off, blankets on/off, more water, more pills, less sunlight.
6:30ish - Get out of bed and get hungry. Send Damien out to forage for food (sometimes he cooks but my preferences change constantly)
7:15 - Eat dinner and immediately get sleepy again
8:00 - Try to stay awake watching TV
11:00 - 11:30 - Spend too much time trying to stay awake. Take meds for constipation and hope for a better poop day tomorrow. Go to bed.
7:31 - Fight off wave of anticipatory nausea to get out of bed
7:32 - Crouch on ground for a few mins to get over sharp bone pain in my lower back
7:33 - Try to poop so I can prepare for a weekend of constipation (twas a success yesterday)
7:45 - Brush teeth and dry heave into sink because anticipatory nausea is a real bitch
7:50 - Take Kilby up to his litter box (he doesn't have constipation problems.. He has the opposite problem of go-wherever-whenever)
8:00 - Prepare breakfast of everything bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon. Eat breakfast. Take a Prilosec to help with digestion and acid problems after chemo.
8:25 - Get dressed (which is just changing from PJs into practically-PJs of yoga pants and t-shirt)
8:30 - Pack my chemo bag with my tablet, headphones, extra charger, snacks, nausea meds and Doctor Who blanket
8:40 - Apply numbing cream to my port in preparation for access
8:45 - Leave house and drive to cancer center
9:17 - Arrive at cancer center, check in, head on back, and say hi to all the nurses and tech and phlebotomist.
9:30 - My chemo nurse access my port to draw blood for the CBC. She has trouble because my blood isn't coming out smoothly (it has air bubbles and is frothing, what??). She pumps the syringe a few times and all is good. I take an ativan to help with nausea.
9:50 - blood counts are good and the nurse starts me on my pre-meds
9:50 - 12:15 - bags and bags of meds are infused into me. I spend the time talking to other patients and Damien, snapchatting, instagramming and IMing people.
12:15 - Done! We head to Hoodys for some philly cheesesteaks.
1:00 - I am full and content. The pre-meds are helping with the nausea but they knock me out. I fall asleep in the car immediately and wake up to us arriving home.
1:30 - Change back into PJs and crawl into bed. Sleeeeeeep. Just a warning - everything after this is hazy because I'm groggy for the rest of the day.
5:30ish - Wake up feeling like bloated swollen crap. Yell out for Damien and he comes to try to make me feel better by doing any of the following - AC higher/lower, ceiling fan on/off, blankets on/off, more water, more pills, less sunlight.
6:30ish - Get out of bed and get hungry. Send Damien out to forage for food (sometimes he cooks but my preferences change constantly)
7:15 - Eat dinner and immediately get sleepy again
8:00 - Try to stay awake watching TV
11:00 - 11:30 - Spend too much time trying to stay awake. Take meds for constipation and hope for a better poop day tomorrow. Go to bed.
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| oh man, I look terrible :( this is where I sit for 3 hours. |
This post made me cry because this is what I wonder about everyday as I sit at work or are on the bus -- I always wonder what you're doing every minute of the day to manage. More play-by-plays, please!
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